THE STURGEON. 175 



elongated, and defended by indurated plates 

 and spines, arranged in longitudinal rows. This 

 fish is often taken on various parts of our 

 coast, and in the estuaries of rivers, where it is 

 sometimes entangled in the salmon nets. Its 

 struggles are very desperate, and it sometimes 

 occasions much trouble. The flesh of this 

 fish, which is sold in slices, is much esteemed 

 by many ; it is firm and white, like veal, and 

 generally prepared as a stew j with a rich gravy ; 

 it is also preserved by salting. The roe of the 

 sturgeon on the continent is made into a condi- 

 ment, called caviar, and the best isinglass is 

 prepared from the membrane of the air-bladder. 

 In the Caspian Sea, and in the northern dis- 

 tricts of Europe, extensive sturgeon fisheries are 

 established, the roe and air-bladder being the 

 great desiderata. The Eussian fisheries on the 

 Caspian Sea are extremely valuable. In this 

 great inland sea, besides the common sturgeon, 

 two different species exist : one is the great 

 sturgeon, Le Hausen, or Beluga, (Accipenser 

 Haso^) which is from twelve to fifteen, and 

 sometimes twenty feet long, and weighing 

 upwards of two thousand pounds, with a roe 

 of five or six hundred pounds. The other is a 

 smaller species, usually from four to six feet 

 long. It is the sevruga, or sevreja, of the 



